Airlines Draw a Line in the Clouds
With a Crackdown on Carry-Ons

By

Thomas Goetz Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

Updated Dec. 11, 1998 11:59 p.m. ET

Looking back, Scott Wall says he was "just inches from a clean getaway."

The Phoenix engineer was boarding a United Airlines flight to San Jose, Calif., recently -- and was already heading down the jetway -- when a ticket agent called him back. His carry-on was just a bit too big, the agent said, and he'd have to check it. "I couldn't believe it," he recalls.